New £2m fund launched for churches and faith groups

A new £2m fund has been launched by the Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT) to assist church groups and faith-based organisations across Northern Ireland.

UCIT is calling upon groups in the Newry area to apply for funding.

Alan Moneypenny, Chairman of UCIT, said, “UCIT can provide churches and faith-based organisations with tailored, flexible and competitive finance which takes into account the needs of the sector.

“As a registered charity all profits generated by UCIT are retained and recycled for the benefit of its clients. There has already been strong interest in our new Faith Fund and this demonstrates the need for additional funding in the sector.”

He added, “We’ve already helped to support a number of projects, such as providing funding to build new church halls and we would encourage church groups and faith-based organisations to get in touch to discuss their requirements.”

The new Faith Fund will provide loans of £5,000-plus for purposes such as refurbishments, extensions, purchase of equipment and restructuring existing debt.

UCIT has supported in excess of 500 community organisations, charities and social enterprises with loan commitments totalling over £90 million.

These include other Churches and Faith-based organisations such as the Elim Trust Corporation which received funding to assist with affordable housing and childcare projects in Newtownabbey and Carryduff. Most recently, UCIT provided St James Church of Ireland, Moy, with a £250,000 loan to redevelop the Parish’s church hall.

In many instances the community projects would not have been possible without the flexible, but professional approach adopted by the Trust in its lending.

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